MrRant 0 Report post Posted October 23, 2003 BOSTON -- Boston Red Sox manager Grady Little said he is not sure he wants to be back with the team next season, according to a published report. Little, second-guessed for keeping Pedro Martinez on the mound in the team's 6-5, 11th-inning loss to the New York Yankees in Game 7 of the AL Championship Series after Martinez struggled in the seventh and eighth innings, will not be surprised if he's fired. "I'm prepared for the likelihood," Little told The Boston Globe. "I am not sure that I want to manage that team. That's how I felt when I drove out of town." Little said he has not heard from the team's management since returning to his North Carolina home. "All I know is that when I left there, there was some hesitation," he said. "That's all I need to know." The club has an option on Little's contract for next season. In his two years as Red Sox manager, they were 93-69 and 95-67, and qualified for the playoffs this season for the first time since 1999. "Right now I am disappointed that evidently some people are judging me on the results of one decision I made -- not the decision, but the results of the decision," he said. "Less than 24 hours before, those same people were hugging and kissing me. If that's the way they operate, I'm not sure I want to be part of it." Many of the team's key players, including Todd Walker and Manny Ramirez, have publicly said Little should return. If he had to do it again, Little said he would keep Martinez in to pitch the eighth inning, when the Yankees came back from a 5-2 deficit to tie the game. Little, 53, became the Red Sox's 43rd manager on March 11, 2002 after Joe Kerrigan was fired. Kerrigan had taken over late in the 2001 season after Jimy Williams was fired. Little managed 16 seasons in the minors from 1980 through 1995 and was San Diego's bullpen coach in 1996. He spent the next three seasons as Williams' bench coach in Boston then had the same job the next two seasons with Charlie Manuel in Cleveland. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kkktookmybabyaway 0 Report post Posted October 24, 2003 Little, second-guessed for keeping Pedro Martinez on the mound in the team's 6-5, 11th-inning loss to the New York Yankees in Game 7 of the AL Championship Series after Martinez struggled in the seventh and eighth innings, will not be surprised if he's fired. And of course if his reliever lost the game Little would be second-guessed for that. He should stay, but since I love hearing miserable Boston fans on talk radio I say fire him and bring in a loser that will keep this team from the playoffs next year... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest MikeSC Report post Posted October 24, 2003 Little, second-guessed for keeping Pedro Martinez on the mound in the team's 6-5, 11th-inning loss to the New York Yankees in Game 7 of the AL Championship Series after Martinez struggled in the seventh and eighth innings, will not be surprised if he's fired. And of course if his reliever lost the game Little would be second-guessed for that. He should stay, but since I love hearing miserable Boston fans on talk radio I say fire him and bring in a loser that will keep this team from the playoffs next year... I'm sure Bobby Valentine is available. I figure if they're going to toss aside a guy who took the team to within a pitch of the WS, they DESERVE somebody like Bobby V. -=Mike Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cartman 0 Report post Posted October 24, 2003 Nice to see some people with common sense enough to realize that if Boston doesn't do the right thing and bring back Grady for next year, they are going to have almost ZERO chance of getting back to the playoffs. By getting rid of Grady they may as well just trade away Pedro and Nomar and just re-build while they're at it. Grady won almost 200 games in his first two major league managing years. How can anyone justify not giving him a contract for at least another year. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kkktookmybabyaway 0 Report post Posted October 24, 2003 Nice to see some people with common sense enough to realize that if Boston doesn't do the right thing and bring back Grady for next year, they are going to have almost ZERO chance of getting back to the playoffs. Common sense? Have you SEEN my NFL picks from the last few weeks?!... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest FrigidSoul Report post Posted October 24, 2003 Nice to see some people with common sense enough to realize that if Boston doesn't do the right thing and bring back Grady for next year, they are going to have almost ZERO chance of getting back to the playoffs. By getting rid of Grady they may as well just trade away Pedro and Nomar and just re-build while they're at it. Grady won almost 200 games in his first two major league managing years. How can anyone justify not giving him a contract for at least another year. Because the talent won despite Grady's blunders. The man can not manage a pitching staff at all, and the only reason why he looks good to some Mass natives is due to the horrible managers we had preceeding him. We haven't had a good manager since Joe Morgan...with Kevin Kennedy being the best since. Pedro struggled to get out of the 7th inning in that game 7 and was well over 100pitches. Now maybe that wouldn't be a big deal normally but seeing as how for the past two weeks Pedro had been pitching on short rest and averaging 120pitches you have to realise he did his job by getting us into the 8th with the lead. The bullpen was solid in the playoffs and Mike Timlin who had been the main set-up man taking us into the 9th for the most part ended up getting the final out of the 8th and pitching a scoreless 9th, thus had he started the 8th there's a DAMN good chance Boston goes into the 9th with a 3 run lead. From there you hand it over to Scott Williamson who had been nasty in this series and overall in the playoffs with the exception of Game 5 in Oakland. The Red Sox should have and could have gone to the WS. I'll give you more Grady Little blunders in that series though. Game 2 having Lowe start on 2days rest(he got the save in Game 5 in Oakland) when he has a guy in the bullpen by the name of Bronson Arroyo who could start. Before you say "Who?" I'll tell you Bronson had pitched around 11innings of shut-out ball vs. the Yankees in the regular season, and had we still lost Game 2 at the very least we could have gone into Fenway with both Lowe and Pedro on full rest. Grady set things up to go 7 when they could have easily won it in 6 through good managerial decisions Let me also say that Theo built the best offense in the majors and he above anybody else deserves the most credit Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Choken One Report post Posted October 24, 2003 Keep little unless you can get Hardgrove because I can't think of anyone else... Bobby V is happy as a commentator for ESPN and I don't think that He'll work for the Boston sox really well... Boston needs that old time old school McKeon type coach that can show the homer happy sox how to have fun...Grady was just a little uptight. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest FrigidSoul Report post Posted October 24, 2003 Bobby V is happy as a commentator for ESPN and I don't think that He'll work for the Boston sox really well... he's going back to manage the team in Japan he use to manage before he came back to manage the Mets Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JangoFett4Hire 0 Report post Posted October 24, 2003 Don't forget all the baserunners thrown out for running on full counts... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cartman 0 Report post Posted October 24, 2003 You want to start 26 YEAR OLD BRONSON ARROYO IN THE GOD DAMN ALCS? That's almost as stupid as benching Soriano and Giambi in the World Series...almost. Fact is, nobody can say that Boston would have won if Timlin came in for the 8th inning. Also, the game was TIED for 3 innings before it ended. Anybody's game. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest FrigidSoul Report post Posted October 24, 2003 You want to start 26 YEAR OLD BRONSON ARROYO IN THE GOD DAMN ALCS? Yes I do, do I need to give you the massive list of rookie pitchers who have helped their team to victory in the past? I can do it Also the Red Sox have given permission to Baltimore to talk to Grady, so it appears we won't have to worry about the Orioles getting better through management. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cartman 0 Report post Posted October 24, 2003 Um, why would they have to give Baltimore permission when Grady is not under contract? His options have not been picked up, and probably won't be at all by the 31st. Making him a Free Agent. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest FrigidSoul Report post Posted October 24, 2003 Um, why would they have to give Baltimore permission when Grady is not under contract? His options have not been picked up, and probably won't be at all by the 31st. Making him a Free Agent. you just answered your own question, he's still under contract until the 31st and the Red Sox still have a club option on him Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
